Impossible practices: on the ideology of codesign

Abstract

Codesign is widely framed as a democratic and inclusive practice, particularly in development-sector contexts where it is invoked as a way of ensuring that those affected by design have a voice in shaping decisions that concern them. Yet designers frequently encounter tensions between participatory ideals and the professional, institutional, and practical demands that shape design practice. This paper argues that recurring tensions in codesign practice are better understood as ideological conditions rather than failures of method or implementation. Drawing on an interpretive case study of Fieldcraft, a design consultancy working in Indian development contexts, we analyse semi-structured interviews with eight practitioners to examine how these tensions are articulated and negotiated in practice. Using Greimas’s semiotic square as an interpretive device, we trace how designers position themselves between participatory aspiration and outcome-oriented delivery, showing how contradictory commitments are symbolically rendered workable without being resolved. In doing so, the paper contributes theoretically to debates on participatory design and social innovation by offering an ideological reading of codesign practice. Empirically, it contributes to a still limited body of scholarship on codesign practice in the Global South by documenting how these tensions unfold within a development-sector consultancy in India.